Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Griffey to Seattle

Because of the time it took for him to reach a decision and the fact that he’d had limited contact with the Braves in more than 24 hours, I can’t say I’m shocked that Ken Griffey Jr. chose to sign with the Mariners.

Seattle provides him a unique nostalgic opportunity to return to his Major League roots. In addition, the Mariners were willing to provide more money than the Braves.

As of last night, both teams were offering a $2 million guarantee. The incentive package offered by the Mariners was more financially lucrative.

With Griffey out of the picture, look for the Braves to make a trade or give one of their young outfielders a chance to platoon in left field with Matt Diaz. They seem more intrigued with these options than the prospect of signing free agent Garrett Anderson.

I think this might definitely open the door for Jordan Schafer, who certainly has more power potential than Gregor Blanco or Josh Anderson. Anderson is out of options and likely to land a roster spot. Schafer is a sound defender who can play both left and center.

Having received a Major League-low 27 homers from their outfielders last year, the Braves needed to find some power to add to their outfield mix. Their best chance to gain this power might be via trade.

What made Griffey more intriguing than Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady was his cost. Now Wren might have to find a way to be able to afford one of these two Yankees outfielders.

29 Comments

Wow….this is the story of the whole offseason…I read that Griffey really was seriously thinking about coming to Atlanta until that stupid report that already said he was…stupid reporters!!!!!!!!!! If thats true, it is

I think Wren is truly ready to give the kids a chance. There’s reason to wonder if Schafer is ready for the Majors. But if he gives any hint that he is they have to give him a chance to provide the power that they lack.

Let’s not put too much into the AJC’s effect. The silence was just coincidental. My guess is that Griffey is going to come out and say he couldn’t pass up the lifetime financial opportunities the Mariners can provide. He’s the Hank Aaron of Seattle and like Aaron is still affiliated with the Braves, Griffey will continue to be affiliated with the Mariners in a similar role for many years to come following his retirement.

Man, this offseason has been as disappointing as the fate of last year’s rotation. The one big pickup we made was Derek Lowe, and even then, he was the third choice and ended up getting a bigger contract than he deserves. I sure hope our shaky outfield shocks everyone with their performance this year to make up for all the missed opportunities.

Mark, are you and DOB all cool? Cuz your image is gettin blasted on that blog, people are saying you sold him down the river…I think all of this is craziness, and just x-ed out of DOB’s blog. you may want to accompany him to the bar, btw…and Wren better be buying…

Meant to send these notes before I left the stadium and i apologize that my last few posts showed up as udflyers96…I still think there’s a chance Glavine could get done w/in the next 24 hours. More interesting is the fact for the first time in more than a month, I’m finally getting a sense the Braves might avoid going to arbitration with Francoeur. I’ll talk to him again in the morning. But I think there’s a chance he won’t have to get on his morning flight.

As I said in the earlier post that listed me as udflyers96, I’m not putting much stock in the AJC effect. I find it hard to believe a player is going to choose to play cross-country just because a newspaper jumped the gun. The AJC felt they had a reliable source and ran with it. At the time that story ran, I do think Griffey was leaning toward Atlanta. But in the hours that followed the Mariners likely made their deal much more appealing. They were always willing to offer more than the Braves from a financial standpoint.

I don’t understand why people think Nady is readily available. The Yankees are not that well stocked in the OF. Nady is a starter for them. They spent a quarter of a billion dollars on three players. Strikes me as implausible that they would let go of a quality starting outfielder when they intend to make a run at the Series.

I don’t think this deal was a make or break deal. From a fan’s perspective, I am more disappointed that my childhood dream of seeing Jr. in a Braves uniform was almost a reality. It was a nostalgic thing more than anything. That and the veteran leadership he would have brought to a player like Heyward who is a rising star. The other two failed transactions (furcal, and Peavy) were way more damaging. Remember when Atlanta used to be the place players wanted to come to? Our biggest need right now is someone to step into the cleanup role and protect Chipper. Chipper is statistically a better #3 hitter and hits better with a solid RBI guy protecting him. A large reason Chipper was so solid last year was because Tex was behind him generating fear in opposing pitchers. WE NEED A CLEANUP HITTER TO PROTECT CHIPPER! I’m hoping Frenchy can step into that role. I’m praying he has a massive year and rebounds. All in all… I feel good about our team and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do. They will compete in the division. I just wish Griffey could have been a part of it all.

Not including Brandon Jones was a stupid mistake on my part. I apologize. In the end, he might actually prove to be the guy who platoons in left field with Diaz. Two years ago, he certainly showed some power potential. But with that being said, Schafer has the best upside. You guys are going to be talking about this kid a lot over the next month.

I don’t understand the negativity towards Garret Anderson. He would add some veteran leadership and tutoring for our up and coming players. Jim Edmonds would also be a good draw for same reason. He is one ball player that will give you 150% every time out.

Edmonds-NO! can’t bear to see another season of faux dives from this jabroni.

G.Anderson-NO

Nady-maybe and only if the cost is not prohibitive with the understanding he’s a one and done.

Let’s take a long look internally and see what we have. There maybe several other OF’s come onto the market earlier than usual with the economy being the driving factor.

The guy that would fit nicely if his team(Giants) got off to a slow start and he was made available would be Randy Winn.

He(Winn) would give Bobby plenty of options, a switch hitter that could play both CF and LF and his stick is versatile enough from either side to slot into the #1,2,6,7, & #8 slots in the order. He’s a XBH machine with a nice OPS, good basestealer only problem is his salary(8.25M) is a little excessive in this market.

That being said though if he became available in May with the Giants willing to eat some cash, he would be a great pickup. Seems most Bay Area scribes deem him a good clubhouse guy, not the single most important factor but a nice attribute none the less.

Let’s just sit tight and evaluate internally and see what else might come on the market in the mean time.

none of this suprised me. i do not care what excuise kg gives he never planned come to braves just a game for more money. we can do better. have question will this give glavine the chance to sign today and stop putting it off? also if he signs what happens to campillo and also what happens in aug when hudson returns someone has be knocked off or go 6 pitchers

I’m guessing a bunch of guys will hit the market like you said Dave. Honestly, if I were a GM on a team going nowhere, I’d seriously think about buying a free agent on the cheap, and then trading the current player and his circa 2007 excessive salary to get some kids as well. Kinda like flipping houses. How cold does that sound? But, I bet you see it happen.

I think Randy Wynn wouldn’t be able to separate himself with respect to talent from Schafer et al to justify the big money. For $8.25 million there should be a clear upgrade in talent from any current alternative. No Type A or even B guys are getting a sniff right now.

It is going to be hard for us to even trade for a left fielder because we don’t have any contracts for position players over $5 million we can send to balance the numbers out. Anything we would do would again be a big increase in payroll. The only guys getting any real money on the Braves right now are all pitchers.
We may be where we’re going to be, which isn’t necessarily a bad place to be.

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